Joe Root: England need to work on their bowling plans for Virat Kohli

The mainstay of the English middle order, Joe Root said that England needs to work on their bowling plans to have any chances of countering Virat Kohli in the 2nd ODI. Kohli struck a magnificent century in the opening encounter to guide India to a sensational come from behind victory. Chasing a mammoth 351 to win, the Indians were reeling at 63/4 at one stage but from there on Kohli and Kedar Jadhav took the matter into their own hands and struck magnificent centuries to help India to a historic victory.

Eoin Morgan had mentioned after the match that they were planning to bowl to the guy at the other end to unsettle Kohli but their ploy backfired as Kedar Jadhav struck a scintillating hundred which came in a mere 65 deliveries. Despite both getting dismissed with 60 runs still to make, Hardik Pandya showed immense character and composure to take India to a 4 wicket win with 11 balls to spare

Speaking at the team hotel in Pune ahead of the 2nd ODI at Cuttack, Root revealed that more planning must be done in order to find out any weakness of the Indian batsmen especially of Virat Kohli’s.

“It was disappointing how it panned out considering the start we had. One thing we noticed is that early on he chanced his arm which you have to, I suppose, to get up near the run rate. We didn’t get the opportunities to stick, and in hindsight if we could have slightly more individual plans to him then that could be a way to go. He got one just over third man and it looked like we were going to take a wicket at any stage in that five-over period after [MS] Dhoni got out,” Root was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

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“One thing he did was talk his partner through it at the other end and helped him construct his innings. There was a lot of thought behind it and for us, that is something we’ve got to learn from,” he added.

Watching Kohli bat especially in run-chases has also been a learning curve for the English No.3 batsman who has played around 100 fewer ODIs than what Kohli has. Root acknowledged the fact and said Kohli is undoubtedly the best in run chases. “He’s one of the best at run chases in the game, in fact he probably is the best at it. His record says he’s got 15 hundreds chasing scores down now. I’d love to sit and chat to him, but I’ve not had that opportunity yet. Definitely watching him go about his business there is a lot of thought behind it.”

Root recently became a father for the first time but due to his assignment with the English team, he could only stay four days with them. Root said it wasn’t the ideal time to leave them behind but it is a part of his occupational hazard.   “It is not ideal and it wasn’t a nice morning having to leave them both behind but it is an occupational hazard in a way and you have to get out here and get stuck into your cricket.”

He has also received some parental tips from his teammates. “Stokesy has been talking me through the gruesome details of what he has been through to do with nappy changing and stuff,” Root said.

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Root concluded by saying that he would be very happy if Alastair Cooks continues to be England’s captain in the longest format. “I’m clueless about what’s going on,” Root said of Cook’s immediate future. “I just hope he makes a decision he’s happy with and as a player, I really would like to see him continue as captain,” Root concluded.